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NM cops say Vermont man sought necktie strangulation of victims

By The Associated Press

Posted:
11/28/2012 12:56:03 PM MST

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Police say a Vermont man in a New Mexico prison sent two people to Vermont to kill two men by strangling them with neckties, the same method he used in killing a girl in Barre in 2000.

But it was Vermonter Dana Martin who alerted New Mexico authorities that the two acquaintances were on their way to Vermont to carry out the killings.

An affidavit by a New Mexico state police detective says the plot involving 23-year-old Tanner Ruane and his uncle, 41-year-old Mark Staake, went awry Nov. 19 when they inadvertently drove to the U.S. border post at Highgate Springs and were questioned by federal agents.

Staake was arrested there on a New Mexico probation violation charge. Ruane was arrested the next day in New York state.